Thursday, January 5, 2017

*Mail Call* October 2016

I got behind on posting my book mail posts again. I feel like I was so busy the last three months of last year, time just got away from me somehow. I will try to not let it happen again (chances are I won't be successful in that though). So here are the books that I got in the mail in October.

Destiny's Choice by Victoria Saccenti

Photo Credit: Goodreads

Synopsis

No one evades Fate. Especially when the escape route is cracked and full of holes.

As a naïve young woman, Marité Muro nearly drowned in a maelstrom of confusing emotions stirred by two very different men. One whose tortured soul tugged at her heart, another whose scorching touch made her innocent body want…more.

Four years in a Spanish prep school gave her time to gain perspective, and now she’s come home to Florida knowing what she wants. The one man she’s never been able to forget, and she’s ready to prove their age difference is no obstacle.

Viet Nam left scars on Brian MacKay, some visible, some invisible—and infinitely more dangerous. His war buddy’s sister-in-law has ripened into a tempting, irresistible woman, but she is forbidden fruit. Yet she challenges his resolve until, in a moment of weakness, his demons slip free.

Marité isn’t sure why the man who held her closer than skin is suddenly holding her at arm’s length, but she isn’t afraid to fight for him. Even when someone returns from the past who could destroy everything. Her home. Her family. And Brian’s love.

For those times when hard work and persistence just aren't enough, Terri Sjodin offers an inspiring guide to getting scrappy and beating the odds.

Terri Sjodin loves scrappy people -- those who beat the odds with a blend of cleverness and fighting spirit. People who see big problems and come up with big solutions. People like the clever Girl Scout who sold 117 boxes of cookies in two hours outside a medical marijuana dispensary, or the entrepreneur who turned his home into an indoor jungle to sell investors on the Rainforest Café Restaurant chain.

It can seem like these successes are just one-off acts of ingenuity or isolated flashes of brilliance. But today it takes more than just creativity, more than just persistence, more than just a dream to reach big goals -- it takes a mindset and a strategy.

Sjodin explains the common elements behind every successful scrappy effort. Drawing on research, interviews, and her own personal experience, she identifies the practices that will help you develop the right mindset. She shares stories of scrappy tactics that have worked, and those that have crashed and burned, to help readers pursue their own vision.

Whether you're a sales rep looking to close that big deal, a job-seeker trying to land your dream job, or a CEO who wants to reach the next level of success, the fastest way to get what you want is to get scrappy.

Sometimes life is so ridiculous, all you can do is laugh. A hilarious, poignant tour de force of American angst.

Jerry Becker is so obsessed with America’s ills, his girlfriend Amy gives him an ultimatum; either see a psyche detective who claims he can cure angst in one day, or it’s over. And so ensues the most bizarre 24 hours of his life in a dangerous part of town known as the Crosshairs District.

Jerry’s only weapon is a sharp sense of humor, but in the dead of night with bullets flying, is anything funny? Will he die laughing? Will Amy wait for him?

Navigating through youth and young adulthood isn't easy, and in Sorry Not Sorry, Naya Rivera shows us that we're not alone in the highs, lows, and in-betweens. Whether it's with love and dating, career and ambition, friends, or gossip, Naya inspires us to follow our own destiny and step over--or plod through--all the crap along the way. After her rise and fall from early childhood stardom, barely eking her way through high school, a brief stint as a Hooters waitress, going through thick and thin with her mom/manager, and resurrecting her acting career as Santana Lopez on Glee, Naya emerged from these experiences with some key life lessons:

Sorry:- All those times I scrawled "I HATE MY MOM" in my journal. So many moms and teenage daughters don't get along--we just have to realize it's nothing personal on either side.- At-home highlights and DIY hair extensions. Some things are best left to the experts, and hair dye is one of them.- Falling in love with the idea of a person, instead of the actual person.

Not Sorry:- That I don't always get along with everyone. Having people not like you is a risk you have to take to be real, and I'll take that over being fake any day.- Laughing at the gossip instead of getting upset by it.- Getting my financial disasters out of the way early--before I was married or had a family--so that the only credit score that I wrecked was my own.

Even with a successful career and a family that she loves more than anything else, Naya says, "There's still a thirteen-year-old girl inside of me making detailed lists of how I can improve, who's never sure of my own self-worth." Sorry Not Sorry is for that thirteen-year-old in all of us.

Çeda, the heroine of the widely anticipated, just-released novel Twelve Kings in Sharakhai, is the youngest pit fighter in the history of the great desert city of Sharakhai. In this prequel, she has already made her name in the arena as the fearsome, undefeated White Wolf; none but her closest friends and allies know her true identity.

But this all changes when she crosses the path of Rümayesh, an ehrekh, a sadistic creature forged long ago by the god of chaos. The ehrekh are usually desert dwellers, but this one lurks in the dark corners of Sharakhai, toying with and preying on humans. As Rümayesh works to unmask the White Wolf and claim Çeda for her own, Çeda’s struggle becomes a battle for her very soul.

When a family from Moscow rents a cottage on young, blind Ukrainian doctor Zinaida Lintvaryova's rural family estate in the summer of 1888, she develops a deep bond with one of their sons, a doctor and writer of modest but growing fame called Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Intelligent, curious, and increasingly introspective as her condition worsens, Zinaida keeps a diary chronicling this extraordinary friendship that comes to define the last years of her life.

In the winter of 2014, Katya Kendall’s London publishing house is floundering-as is her marriage. Katya is convinced that salvation lies in publishing Zinaida’s diary, and she approaches translator Ana Harding about the job. As Ana reads the diary, she is captivated by the voice of the dying young doctor. And hidden within Zinaida’s words, Ana discovers tantalizing clues suggesting that Chekhov—who was known to have composed only plays and short stories—actually wrote a novel during his summers with Zinaida that was subsequently lost. Ana is determined to find Chekhov’s “lost” manuscript, but in her search she discovers it is but one of several mysteries involving Zinaida’s diary.

Inspired by fragments of historical truth, The Summer Guest is a transportive, masterfully written novel about an unusual, fascinating friendship that transcends the limits of its time and place. It’s also a contemporary story about two compelling, women, both of whom find solace in Zinaida and Chekhov as they contemplate all that’s missing in their own lives.

Now back in print, the award-winning first book of the Children of the Star trilogy. Noren knew that his world was not as it should be -- it was wrong that only the Scholars, and their representatives the Technicians, could use metal tools and Machines. It was wrong that only they had access to the mysterious City, which he had always longed to enter. Above all, it was wrong for the Scholars to have sole power over the distribution of knowledge. The High Law imposed these restrictions and many others, though the Prophecy promised that someday knowledge and Machines would be available to everyone. Noren was a heretic. He defied the High Law and had no faith in the Prophecy's fulfillment. But was defiance enough, or could some way be found to make it come true?

Run Away to Home follows the adventures of a rebellious teen who runs away from his California home and sets off toward the east. Set in the 1980s, the story is true to life and based on actual events of the author’s life. The main character, Tyler, is a deceitful kid that is only looking out for himself. We see people come into his life who want to exploit or harm him or lead him down the wrong path and others who want to minister to him and love him through his bad behavior. Over the course of the story we see the immature, reckless and lying teenager grow into manhood both personally and spiritually. It's a tale of a deceitful kid who gradually learns great lessons about growing up and becoming aware of the impact of one's own decisions on others - and owning them.

Fame, fortune and killer good looks has afforded major league shortstop, Terrence Benjamin, many perks - including a legion of groupies. Traci Grant, his longtime fiance, hopes to eventually find her happily ever after with Terrence. Enter Rondell Mitchell, the handsome real estate mogul. For nearly a year he fights his attraction to Traci, but when tragedy draws them closer, against his professional judgment he confesses his feelings to her. As Traci tires of waiting to marry the cheating Terrence, will she surrender to Rondell? It's a winding journey that ventures from the hood to the hills of Los Angeles, and ultimately to a cliff, where the greatest test of love meets with destiny."

For the assassin named Katana, this was supposed to be just another mission. She doesn't know why the island of Markovia has been invaded by the fascist death cult called Kobra, and she doesn't care. She simply knows that as a member of the Suicide Squad, it's her job to stop them by any means necessary and get out in one piece.

Only one thing is certain: Katana must cut her way through the evil to the terrible truth behind her mission, or the whole world will be endangered-and her Suicide Squad puppet masters will be more than happy to let her fall on her sword...

One of the stars of this year's highly anticipated action blockbuster gets her own turn in the spotlight in SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED: KATANA, by her co-creator Mike W. Barr and artist Diogenes Neves-a razor-sharp thriller that will slice right through you!

The story of Lucifer's fall from heaven is well known. His wicked nature is legendary, surviving for many years, yet as all conflicts go there are two sides. These opposing sides each with their own reasons and justifications. Knowing only part of the story is worthless. The Keys of Death and Hades is the first book in the Epic of Lucifer. It is the story as it happened through the Wyrm's eyes. What could be so precious that Lucifer would dare defy the will of God, supreme creator of all, fail and try again?

This fairy tale with a twist begins in the naïve, Romantic-style of Hans Christian Andersen, and ends with Lovecraftian madness, necromancy, and revenge. Siblings Henry and Althea are simple peasants whose lives are changed when they rescue an injured elf maiden named Birne from brutal captivity. Their selfless act polarizes the community. As lethal enemies and allies emerge to jeopardize the family's peace, Birne must prove her loyalty with deadly force.

At the start of the twentieth century, a young girl and her family emigrate from Lithuania in search of a better life in America, only to land on the Emerald Isle instead. In 1958, a mute Jewish boy locked away in a mental institution outside of Dublin forms an unlikely friendship with a man consumed by the story of the love he lost nearly two decades earlier. And in present-day London, an Irish journalist is forced to confront her conflicting notions of identity and family when her Jewish boyfriend asks her to make a true leap of faith. These three arcs, which span generations and intertwine in revelatory ways, come together to tell the haunting story of Ireland’s all-but-forgotten Jewish community. Ruth Gilligan’s beautiful and heartbreaking Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan explores the question of just how far we will go to understand who we really are, and to feel at home in the world.

Throughout time, people of many cultures and religions have believed in angels. Now Beleta Greenaway brings you closer to these wonderful beings in this delightful guide. She shares some of her own experiences with angels and describes how you can make your own connections with them, whether through meditation, in dreams, using decks of special cards, or by other means.

Greenaway covers the entire angelic realm. Included here are:

Encounters with angelsAngels in the modern worldAngelic herbs and plantsHow to work with angelsAngels, animals, and heavenAngels in the AfterlifeThis is for anyone who is interested in angels, who wants a little supernatural help, and/or who wants a glimpse of the vast array of other worldly forces and beings that inhabit the universe.

"I should be dead. Buried in an unmarked grave in Romania. Obviously, I am not. God had other plans."

At just under five feet tall, Virginia Prodan was no match for the towering 6' 10" gun-wielding assassin the Romanian government sent to her office to take her life. It was not the first time her life had been threatened--nor would it be the last.

As a young attorney under Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal communist regime, Virginia had spent her entire life searching for the truth. When she finally found it in the pages of the most forbidden book in all of Romania, Virginia accepted the divine call to defend fellow followers of Christ against unjust persecution in an otherwise ungodly land.

For this act of treason, she was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, placed under house arrest, and came within seconds of being executed under the orders of Ceausescu himself. How Virginia not only managed to elude her enemies time and again, but how she also helped expose the appalling secret that would ultimately lead to the demise of Ceausescu's evil empire is one of the most extraordinary stories ever told.

A must-read for all generations, Saving My Assassin is the unforgettable account of one woman's search for truth, her defiance in the face of evil, and a surprise encounter that proves without a shadow of a doubt that nothing is impossible with God.

The Women Who Love Rome pulls back the curtain on the hilarious world of four rebels, one man and three women, who have decided to defy the traditional lifestyle and instead pursue the ultimate taboo.

When Thursday Darling runs into her ex-boyfriend, Rome Nicki, it’s love at first sight all over again. After an explosive reunion, Thursday is taken-aback to learn that Rome was once married and has since then traded in his marriage license for something completely different. He now shares his home with two beautiful ladyloves, and has every intention of making Thursday lucky No. 3.

(No prices, couldn't find it online.)

Possession by Mary E. Buras-Conway

Photo Credit: Goodreads

Synopsis

The continuing tumultuous story of India Leigh and Kellan Coventry.

A sinister plot against all things Coventry attacks India. The danger brings Kellan back, front, and center in her life.

In the process, the jaded Kellan learns what love is and finds out how that powerful emotion can change everything for a man.

Over his dead body will he let anything happen to the one woman who is strong enough to bring him to his knees.

The Infographic History of the World by Valentina D'Efilippo and James Ball

Photo Credit: Goodreads

Synopsis

"The authors have put as much effort into the design as the data and their book is meant to entertain as much as to inform." -- The Economist

The first edition of The Infographic History of the World was released only in 2013 but the world clearly has changed since then. The movement of millions of people around the globe, including the mass exodus of four million Syrian refugees, has altered almost every country on the globe.

At least 15 major conflicts erupted in 2014, resulting in the displacement of millions of individuals on virtually every continent. By year's end, a staggering 59.5 million people had been forced to flee as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations. Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world's 24th biggest.

Climate change is also forcing migration. Since 2008, close to 175 million people living in developing countries have been displaced by geophysical or weather-related disasters.

This edition of The Infographic History of the World is updated to reflect this profound change in the human fabric. New infographics lay out the numbers and geographic movement of refugees, migrants and displaced peoples around the globe, showing where they originate and where they land.

Seventy-five topics and more than 100 infographics cover the entirety of the world's lifespan of 13.8 billion years. Four sections -- In the Beginning, Getting Civilized, Nation Building, and The Modern World -- present world history as a visual essay of facts, trends and timelines. The book's design cleverly mirrors the content, opening with parchment-like paper stock and primitive typography, progressing to glossy pages, minimalist design and color.

Comedy legend Carol Burnett tells the hilarious behind-the-scenes story of her iconic weekly variety series, The Carol Burnett Show.Who but Carol Burnett herself has the timing, talent, and wit to pull back the curtain on the Emmy-Award winning show that made television history for eleven glorious seasons?In Such Good Company delves into little-known stories of the guests, sketches and antics that made the show legendary, as well as some favorite tales too good not to relive again. Carol lays it all out for us, from the show’s original conception to its evolution into one of the most beloved primetime programs of its generation.

Written with all the charm and humor fans expect from a masterful entertainer like Carol Burnett, In Such Good Companyskillfully highlights the elements that made the show so successful in a competitive period when TV variety shows ruled the air waves. Putting the spotlight on everyone from her talented costars to her amazing guest stars—the most celebrated and popular entertainers of their day—Carol crafts a lively portrait of the talent and creativity that went into every episode.

Here are all the topics readers want to know more about, including: • how the show almost didn’t air due to the misgivings of certain CBS vice presidents; • how she discovered and hired Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway; • anecdotes about guest stars and her close freindships with many of them, including Lucille Ball, Roddy Mcdowell, Jim Nabors, Bernadette Peters, Betty Grable, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme, Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth, and Betty White; • the people behind the scenes from Bob Mackie, her costume designer and partner in crime, to the wickedly funny cameraman who became a fixture during the show’s opening Q&A; • and Carol's takes on her favorite sketches and the unpredictable moments that took both the cast and viewers by surprise.

This book is Carol's love letter to a golden era in television history through the lens of her brilliant show which won no less than 25 Emmy Awards! Get the best seat in the house as she reminisces about the outrageous tales that made working on the show as much fun as watching it.

From the bestselling author of Suddenly Royal comes the first in a sparkling new series about America’s favorite royal—the First Daughter.

Everyone makes mistakes, especially in college. But when you’re the daughter of the President of the United States, any little slip up is a huge embarrassment. Maddie McGuire’s latest error in judgment lands her in police custody, giving the press a field day. Agreeing to do community service as penance and to restore her tattered reputation, Maddie never dreams incredibly good looking but extremely annoying vice president’s son, Jake Simmon, will be along for the ride.

Recently returning from Afghanistan with a life-altering injury, Jake is wrestling with his own demons. He doesn’t have the time or patience to deal with the likes of Maddie. They’re like oil and water and every time they’re together, it’s combustible. But there’s a thin line between love and hate, and it’s not long before their fiery arguments give way to infinitely sexier encounters.

When Jake receives devastating news about the last remaining member of his unit, the darkness he’s resisted for so long begins to overwhelm him. Scared to let anyone close, he pushes Maddie away. But she isn’t about to give up on Jake that easily. Maddie’s fallen for him, and she’ll do anything to keep him from the edge as they both discover that love is a battlefield and there are some fights you just can’t lose.

The Litarian Battles are the only thing ever televised. No other shows are transmitted into the Outer Limits. Max has never had an interest in watching, much to the surprise of everyone else around her. She doesn’t see the point of watching contestants battle when no one is ever injured or killed, and all for the opportunity to live in the utopian city of Icarian.

Things change when she is selected to be a participant. She is sent to the main city of Tarsus where The Litarian Battles are held, Max is subjected to bodily mutilation, life or death battles, and psychological manipulation. And she begins to think there’s more going on than just a chance to live in Icarian. She soon realizes that the real battle isn’t displayed on television, but behind the scenes. Max is caught between a conflict that may lead to war and rip her society in half. She has to walk a thin line, make sacrifices, and kill friends just to get at the truth and determine who will win the ultimate war.

The Nobel laureate’s unfinished science fiction novel—available in English for the first time ever

Awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1980, Czeslaw Milosz was one of the twentieth century’s most esteemed poets and essayists. This outstanding translation of his only hitherto unavailable work is classic Milosz and a necessary companion volume for scholars and general readers seeking a deeper understanding of his themes. Written in the 1970s and published posthumously in Polish in 2012, Milosz’s deliberately unfinished novel is set in a dystopian future where hierarchy, patriarchy, and religion no longer exist. Echoing the structure of The Captive Mind and written in an experimental, postmodern style, Milosz’s sole work of science fiction follows four individuals: Karel, a disaffected young rebel; Lino, an astronaut who abandons his life of privilege; Petro, a cardinal racked with doubt; and Ephraim, a potential prophet in exile. The original manuscript of this work is held at the Beinecke Library, and this edition will include photographs of the draft.

In "Decoding the Mind of God" author O. M Kelly delves into the unconscious mind and discovers the secrets of the collective consciousness, showing how we can realize the potential of the human mind through belief in ourselves. The Laws of the universe are identical to the collective consciousness, they reveal an answer to every question we are capable of asking. We constantly receive these answers through the vibrations of the energy fields through our being, all without us knowing how to realign our intelligence with our unconscious mind. The truth remains hidden to us.

Surprising as it may seem, the key to understanding ourselves lies in a mathematical language, which is the make-up of the unconscious mind. Kelly explores this language through the texts and myths of myriad cultures and belief systems, notwithstanding the truth of the science behind the Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the stories collected in the Bible. As we read this volume we realize that all of these stories are connected to our own story within. Kelly 's perceptions of the order of higher consciousness are framed by stories from her experiences of personal discovery and over twenty years of researching, lecturing and teaching all around the world.

Once these codes are unveiled, we earn our freedom where we can release the fear in which humanity habitually traps itself, creating our accidents, diseases, why we die, right up to explaining extra terrestrial intelligence. This book exposes the secret codes of the universal language that will help us achieve the divine unity with the universe and ourselves.

So that is all of the books that I got in the mail in October. I have decided to start adding the prices of the books from Amazon to go along with my #YearOfReadingFreely challenge, as sort of a reference I guess...It makes sense in my head, please go with it. I'm most excited about Sorry Not Sorry and In Such Good Company myself. Which of these books are you most interested in reading my review of? - Katie